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Police arrest woman at spa closed in 2004

By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer

March 4, 2006
A woman working at a Williston massage parlor was arrested and jailed Thursday after she offered to perform a sexual act on a man who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Hae Ja Cho, an employee of Harmony Spa, was cited to appear Monday in Vermont District Court in Burlington on a prohibited acts charge, according to Williston Police Sgt. Bart Chamberlain.

"We sent an undercover person into the establishment," Chamberlain said. "He paid $80 for a massage and she offered a sexual service for an additional $60."

Chamberlain said Hae Ja Cho, a South Korean immigrant, was in the country legally and has two prostitution-related convictions from 2001 in North Hempstead, N.Y. She is 53 and told police she lives and works at the Harmony Spa location.

At the request of the U.S. Border Patrol, Hae Ja Cho is being held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Center in South Burlington and might face deportation proceedings pending the outcome of her case, Chamberlain said.

The arrest marks the second time that the Harmony Spa address at 5649 Williston Road has been the target of police investigation into suspected prostitution. On July 1, 2004, state and federal agents raided the site, along with two other Chittenden County massage parlors identified by police as brothels using illegal immigrants to provide sex services to customers. At the time, the Williston business was named Ginza Health Spa.

Armed with search warrants, agents arrested eight women of Asian descent on immigration charges and recovered $145,000 in cash.

Court documents at the time alleged the women were part of an international network of sexual "indentured servants" who turned over most of the money earned from massages and sexual services to pay for being smuggled into the United States.

No one was charged criminally in the 2004 cases, but a number of the women later underwent deportation proceedings. A man who was in the midst of a sex act at one of the spas when police arrived also was not charged .

Chamberlain said the Harmony Spa employed two women and that the police investigation was continuing. He said police have been monitoring the business periodically over the past year.

"We spoke to both girls Thursday and they admitted they do sexual acts on a regular basis for every male customer who requests it," Chamberlain said. "They told us it is done in exchange for a tip."

A woman answering a telephone call to Harmony Spa on Friday afternoon said she was a co-worker of Hae Ja Cho's but denied having anything to do with providing sexual services to customers in exchange for money.

"I am my own person, not her," said the woman, who identified herself as "Judy" but did not disclose her full name. "I have nothing to do with yesterday's case." She then ended the interview, explaining that a customer had arrived.

Chamberlain said no customers were at the Harmony Spa when Hae Ja Cho was arrested Thursday and very little cash was recovered.

Chang Il Choi of Flushing, N.Y., is listed as Harmony Spa's president in corporation records on file at the Secretary of State's Office. He was co-manager of the White Orchid Wellness Center in South Burlington, another of the targets in the 2004 raid, around the time of the raid. The White Orchid business was subsequently closed.

Chang Il Choi declined through the office of his Winooski lawyer to be interviewed Friday.

"He does not want to make a comment until he talks to his attorney," said Melinda Adam, an assistant to attorney Russell Niquette, who is on vacation this week.

Tom Booska of Burlington, owner of the building occupied by Harmony Spa, was out of town on business Friday and was unavailable for comment, according to his wife, Leah.

If convicted of engaging in prohibited acts, a misdemeanor charge, Hae Ja Cho faces a maximum of one year in jail and a $100 fine, Chamberlain said.
Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com